I saw a lot of shows in 1978, unfortunately not the ones at Red Rocks. However to answer the felllas questions about “Drums” in 1978 almost everybody played during “Drums”…at Duke University Jerry played the steel drums. The Virginia shows we saw…Virginia Tech and William And Mary ….the roadies came out banging on frying pans, cooking pots, all sorts of crazy stuff….1978 was a lot of fun , the Springfield show we learned the whole band was doing “Mescaline “….and you can tell….they were hooting and hollering, growling into the mics…..take a listen

I worked stage security at this show for Feyline Presents. The crowd was more than a bit wasted! I remember towards the end Jerry went into along rambling lead and almost put the rest of the band to sleep. A 2.5 hour show! Donna and Phil Godchock were great, nice folks. Jerry was in a foul mood afterwards, I was told this was common. Good sound quality, was this from the booth? Not from the Japanese guy with the big ghetto blaster in row 10 center. All of the soundbooth tapes and the Japanese guys recordings are on a roku channel.

Red Rocks probably the ultimate location
that I saw the Grateful Dead.
Would have liked to seen it with this lineup.
78 a strong year for the band.

This is a great show. the whole band sounds very tight and coherent, the mixing/levels of these tapes is also, EXCELLENT. Jerry is smoking on almost every song... great energy throughout the show. awesome cold rain and snow, and a killer scarlet>fire

and even Donna, god bless her, she sounds just right.. no huge cat calls, just solid backup

a 5 star show for your vault..

Just tremendous, raging guitar and playing in general and an amazing recording to boot...every DH friend I had had a tape of this back in the day...whole show is fantastic however the first set rulz...Bob and Jerry were on fire...top 5 best versions of Jackstraw, Uncle>Big River, and Cassidy IMHO...peace friends...

A friend gave me a cassette recording of this show about 20 years ago. Unfortunately, that year I was only 9 years old and not touring with the DEAD. This show ranks as one of my all time favs...the following night is also amazing, but the Scarlet/Fire/Dancin into Drums/Space is historical on epic proportions. It defines the cosmic/sonic/psychedelic funk experimentalism that the DEAD mastered by 77-78. I think this year defined all the sounds that came afterwards and we had in the 80's. In that sense, this show is pioneering.

pretty chilled out first set up to music never stopped, the intro to music is wicked cool with jerr hittin that one note twice, put a big smile on, song overall is rockin...really really really rockin

2nd set is great overall, like the nobodys jam in NFA

this night there was a lightning storm over Denver for awhile that was neat, people shooting fireworks across the audience from one side of the seats to the other, from the rocks, and being told to get down because the rocks get slippery and dangerous. the crowd really didn't get going till Tenn Jed, but then gradually the crowd became one, as it should always be.

This is the dead's first red rocks show and it often gets overshadowed by the greatness of the next night (and yes 7-8 is incredible) but this is a great stuff too! Check out The Music Never Stopped!! plus the whole second set is on fire, and cassidy and peggy-o; hell it's all fantastic! Easy 5 star with nice sound quality to boot

I can tell when a show is Smokin' because my parakeets FREAK out. Cheers!

http://www.archive.org/details/gd1978-07-08.sbd.hoelter.tetzeli.fix-294.33818.shnf

here is the link to the next night. there are about 4 versions on archive. I know sometimes I can't find a show it drives me nuts. I think the best way to search to is to change "All media types" next to the search query field to "grateful dead" then type in the venue name. Narrows down the choices and doesn't exclude anything based on nomenclature.

In my opinion, 7-8-78 has always been a bit overrated. Good show, yes, but not one of the best. This night, 7-7, is just as good to me. The Dancin' here is really tight, TMNS funky and fun, and the Peggy-O is one of the better versions I've heard. There's really nothing to hate here, although to me it was just shy of 5 stars.

Not sure why 7-8-78 is not on the archive, It's ONLY one of the most collected shows of all time and it's not been officially released that I know of, but if you want it, it can be found on GDLive.com.

I HAD a tape of the next night, got my hands on it back in '97 or so. definitely one of the best shows out there, I LOVE THAT ONE. I know people tend to down '78, but July 8th at Red Rocks was an amazing night; I would take this show over many, many others.

Solid first set with staples like Bertha, Dire, IMHBTR, Minglewood, and Ramble. The second set was what really blew me away, I think two or three songs into the set the tear it up: Estimated, Other One, Eyes, drums, Wharf Rat, Franklin's. Just amazing music, the Dead truly shining. That's not to mention a three song encore bookended with Terrapin & Werewolves.

This is a night that all heads should have in their collection. If I come across it again, I will post. Peace all.

I saw all the rave reviews and, being a big Scarlet Fire fan, downloaded a copy of this thing. I was pretty disappointed. The sound is very tinny and weak-feeling in general. Not sure if it's the recording or the performance. Keith is non-existent. The highlight of the show is, in my opinion, the scarlet > fire, but even that feels "light"...it's like eating a vegitarian sandwich: afterwards you still feel hungry.

hello
i am looking for the 7/8/78 mp3 vbr files from the next night, I have a wealth to share in exchange, email me at fieldhouse11277@hotmail.com

Theres a podcast called The Dead Show on KOPN that you can get on their website or on iTunes. They give you whole sets, soundboard quality, of some finely picked shows. This guy knows his stuff.

The last 2 shows have been set 1 and set 2 +encore of the next night, 7-8-78

http://deadshow.blogspot.com/

the whole show is 1 mp3 file

Red Rocks was famous on 78-8-7 when the grateful dead played Terrapin Station for the first time as an encore! Being a huge fan of the song, I can only dream of being tossed into the tunes of Terrapin at the end of the final set.
If anyone has this show or have ever heard it, please post. I would really like to listen to it or hear about it, and if anyone knows this or if anyone is shocked by the preformance

This is a very tight show. Stands up to anything '78 has to offer. It's ashame the mix is so off, very bright. Bobby is way up as are the cymbals. Keith is totally MIA. For a better copy this would be a 5 star show as is I can just give it a 3.

this string of shows at the red rocks in '78 is classic dead. some of the best shows they played in their 30 year history. a lot of focus is placed on the 7-8-78 show, but this on stands alone as a fantastic show as well. the sound quality is great for this sbd, as is the following night. I highly recommend finding them in shn format and burning them.

the first set of this show is smoking . . . unlike so many shows where the first set seems to be a warm up. really strong jack straw to begin and the music at the end is really tight. and it's nice they snuck a FOTD in there.

the second set is amazing, just enjoy it and turn it up. tight and great jerry solos . . .

Brought the first "Jerry smile" to my face today

I remember this show from my maxell tapes in my 71' bus. These Red Rocks shows are sooo tight. Had to let the peeps know who don't have this that if for any reason, the Scarlet>Fire is the only reason you should need....to have this show, just a very unique version, very passionate. Where's a tissue, Holy Scarlet>Fire. And yes the rest of the show roxors my boxors! peace, the Hogg.

This show is well played and the vocals are mostly good, though Jerry has sung better Rain and Snows. The Jerry-Bob-Donna harmonies on Friend of the Devil are pretty. Jerry's guitar starts to rip in Cassidy and continues all night. The Terrapin material (Passenger, Music Never Stopped, etc) has great Jerry solos. There's a long Space section in here, if you're into it. I wouldn't call this show outstanding, but it is enjoyable.

The sets are so well balanced and the music is well executed. I was wondering is anyone else does this, but I fed the sound through Realplayer Plus's EQ enhancement and captured it with a wave editor. The sound is even better. I mean, the timbre of instruments is more pronounced and the vocals have more depth. Just wondering if anyone ever tried it. It's worth it. Obviously, you wouldn't share the show after adulterating it, but for your own personal enjoyment, give it a try.

This show is complete. This show and the following night are two of the most energetic performances I have ever heard by the band in any configuration. Jerry sings his songs with true conviction and the band was working hard at having fun. Must be in your collection!

Most of the attention has been on the following night's show, but I finally gave this one a thorough listening today and IT IS KILLER!!! These two nights at Red Rocks combine for one of the best runs I've ever heard! Don't be put off by the "splitter technique" comment in the technical notes, or by an average looking set list. It is anything but, and will be an EXTREMELY worthy addition to any collection. Wait until you hear The Music Never Stopped, or even Around & Around (the best I've heard yet). TURN UP THE VOLUME AND ENJOY!

??Missing tune?? Far as I can tell, the show is complete...

And this is their first performance at Red Rocks!

I know it was the first time I saw them. I seem to remember Bill Walton off to the side or on the rug at the end, or maybe it was the August shows, or maybe the '79 shows. There weren't any other 7-foot tall, bearded, pony-tailed redheads around so it must have been him. Anyway these two shows were a great intro for anyone who hadn't seen the Dead before. Hearing the crowd respond to "I'm gonna tell you how its gonna be" at the beginning of NFA still brings back goosebumps.

It is too bad one of the tracks to this show is missing. (Yes, you can tell!) However, it stills ranks in at least my top ten shows of all time. An outstnding show from beginning to end. Cold Rain & Snow just gives me goose bumps every time I listen to it. Scarlet>Fire second only to 5-8-77 performance. A plus for anyones collection.

great show as evry one wrote above but the music never stoped was left out of most reviews , it is on fire as most 78 shows, must download!!

My all time favorite show. I would gladly give years off my life to have been at the Rocks for that first run. Possibly the best NFA ever. All time Scarlet>Fire. Smoker all the way through. MAMU>Big River smokes. Black Peter JERRY SMOKES. This show is UNREAL. 1977 might be perfection, but 1978 Grateful Dead is pure Rock and Roll. Everyone is on fire for this one. This and the next night is my favorite run by any band.
No collection complete without this show.

the scarlet>firedancin is a melt down that nmakes you want to pull your car over and get out and dance!

aside from the night after this one and cornell of 5.8.77, this is one of the top shows in dead lore. Cold rain is slinky as hell and jerry sounds like a 12 year old girl scout hsi voice is so clear.